Albania

Our tour September 29th to October 14th, 2023

The traveler sees things that he encounters on the way, the tourist sees what he sets out to see.

GK Chesterton (1874 – 1936) writer and journalist

At around 3 p.m. we cross the border into Albania, it goes pretty quickly and without any problems. We quickly drive to the next larger city, Shkodra, and first get a prepaid card with 100GB of data volume for around €28 from the provider ONE. Here we can pay with EURO, VISA, LEK. The Vodafone shop only wanted LEK, but we didn't have it yet. Then we stocked up on cash. A tip for this:

It's worth reading the fine print on withdrawing cash from your own bank beforehand. We use the VISA card from 2 banks.

Danger! Avoid the DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversation) tourist trap. When making the withdrawal, you will be asked whether you want to settle your withdrawal in the local currency or in the currency of your card (Euro).

If you bill in euros with DCC, the ATM operators themselves determine the exchange rate. However, this is so bad compared to the current daily rate that you pay significantly more. So you should always reject DCC and bill in local currency.

Our destination today is the River Camping directly on the Drin River.

Here too, the reviews were very positive. We are greeted very nicely by Stelina in German. Everything is very uncomplicated, a place with a pet connection.

In addition to dogs and cats, there are also chickens, geese and ducks. We spend the evening at the camp and are surrounded.😃

The city is said to be very beautiful, so we cycle there the next day. Despite the heavy traffic in and around the city, we never felt unsafe. Drivers are very considerate of cyclists. After a few minutes I (Marion) notice that I no longer have any air in the rear wheel - great, a flat tire. Of course we don't have any tools with us, so we look for a workshop. We searched with our cell phones and found a workshop. On the way there - in a small side street - we find a screwdriver. He looks at the bike, makes a few hand signals and repairs the bike in a few minutes. He doesn't want to take any money for that.

It will then be a German-Albanian joint effort, as he doesn't yet know the circuit. Everything is perfect and we can move on. Now we're really hungry. There are countless opportunities to drink coffee, bars, restaurants and snack shops everywhere. We decide on a small snack. The food was very tasty and we had a lot of fun with our first words in Albanian.

Then we stroll through the beautiful old town.

Back from our city tour, we are a bit hungry but unfortunately we won't get anything to eat at the camp today. Stellina gives us a great recommendation, there is a restaurant about 500m from the camp, which is mostly visited by locals. There we get a great meal for a good price and of course our 4-legged companions are not missing. But we like to share with the sweet beggars. 😊

We spend a great evening in this very beautiful place. It's usually very crowded here later in the evening. We are lucky and enjoy the delicious food, great wine and an atmospheric ambience right on the river.

The little tomcat is cheeky and wants “his” share. The waiter rushes to help us, but we wave him off and deal with the cute guy ourselves.

We leave the next day. Albania has a lot to offer in terms of sights, but we decided to travel the coast for our first tour, especially since it is already October and we want to enjoy the sun and sea. We drive south, past the already very developed - actually built-up - beaches of Durrës near the capital Tirana.

Now it is becoming increasingly clear to us that Albania is no longer an “insider tip”.

We are looking for an undeveloped beach. Our destination today is Dream Beach Camping. We drive to Kërçukaj and turn there towards the sea. About 4 km from the beach we discover a castle - Fortress of Bashtovë - and spontaneously turn off. The castle is closed for renovation. As we stand in front of it, the gates to the camp opposite open and we are happily greeted by Gina, the dog.

The owner of the camp offers us to stay for €10 per night. We would rather go to the sea, but Sinan (the owner) is so nice that we at least drink a beer. He gives us his delicious olive oil to taste.

Of course we take olive oil with us. Plus some raki, wine & honey.

Then we continue to the beach. The road is very adventurous and even Google is overwhelmed with navigation. Luckily, a German couple comes from the street we were about to drive down and says there is a dead end, so we drive along the dirt road and stop at the first building on the beach. We are immediately caught by Rakip, the beach bar owner. We can stand at his bar free of charge, there is also a toilet and an "outside shower". However, the last two only worked when he turned on the water. The last attempt to clean the toilet would cause even the sharpest thinker a lot of headaches. The place is perfect for us because we have our separate toilet on board and have peace, sun & sea and a restaurant right on site.

The beach is deserted, but unfortunately there is quite a storm, which makes it impossible for us to sit outside on the first evening.

Rakip tries very hard to fulfill our wishes. Here too, however, it should be noted: End of the season.

We talk with hands, feet, a few "broken" English and the Albanian - German translator.

We eat very well, but the offering is limited: meat, fish and salad.

The price is "touristy" - normal for the coastal region. The bream cost 1000 LEK - about €10 - without any side dish, with some bread.

We spend the next day on the beach.

We take a nice hike to the river mouth and watch the fishermen at work.

Afterwards “Sungazin” at sunset & yoga on the beach.

"Sungazing is an ancient method that uses solar energy in a very special, but simple, way - which is said to lead to more awareness, a clear mind and more joy in life." Quote: Creator Island.com

Since the wind is increasing again the next day and our Charlotta is already completely covered in dust, we travel further south.

We make another detour to Sinan to buy some more olive oil and to fill Charlotta - our camper - with water, as Rakip was unfortunately no longer to be found. Sina also brought us a water hose to clean the sand off our Charlotta. When we asked when pomegranates were actually ripe, Sinan took us into his garden and we were given a whole bucket as a gift - so our breakfast was covered for the next few days.

We say goodbye and continue south and pass Vlora. The city is turbulent, the roundabout has its own rules.

Vlora is very clean, the beaches are certainly beautiful. Since it is “end of the season” we also find a parking space with Charlotta.

We imagine what's going on here in "the season" and head off further south.

The drive over the mountains is interesting and winding. We fill our drinking water reserves at a spring on the way - the water quality is great, by the way, the locals almost exclusively drink spring water.

By the way, we didn't buy water once during the entire trip. Nature has delivered - in the best quality.

Further towards Dhermi we pass various viewpoints. The view is always gigantic.

Saranda - pictured above is a very popular destination. From here you can also take the ferry to Corfu. We're still thinking about whether we can make it in time.

From the Panorama Llogara viewpoint you have a great view of the Bay of Dhermi - our next destination.

If you have the courage, you can also book paragliding with some providers here. We belong more to the water sports group - but we admire a brave woman who is currently throwing herself off the cliff 😉.

Then it goes very steeply downhill.

When we arrived in the valley, our Charlotta was quite "overloaded". Trying to brake with the engine was a bit too much. You could smell the clutch - but everything was good.

When we arrived at camp, everything was very relaxed. Since we are under one roof, we also use electricity this time. #

The price is €25 per night including electricity, shower, spring water from the mountains.

TIP: You can now pay in EURO in many places in Albania.

We didn't arrive until around 5 p.m., so our trip to the beach was dominated by the evening atmosphere. It's about 800 meters, according to Google "mostly flat" climb (back to camp) 25 meters.

Well we think it's more than that, there's no chance of "climbing" the mountain with a normal bike - as we find out the next day.

The beach is lovely, hardly any people. Only the naturist beach has moved over the next cliff - we think because of the current construction site.

Back from the beach we enjoy an atmospheric evening on the square.

A new day - we start with the SUP's in the bay of Dhermi.

Super clear, blue water and warm. If you were looking for a drink, many of the bars were already closed. Then we listen to music - great bar, also well attended. 2 small beers - €10. 🤪